Gas fracking ‘unlikely to cause a pollution danger to water supplies’

Ineos, the energy giant, wants to extract underground gas from sites in the central belt but the Scottish government has imposed a moratoriumCorbis

Fracking for gas is unlikely to cause a pollution danger to water supplies, according to research.

Opponents of the development of shale gas by hydraulic fracturing, such as the actress Emma Thompson, have alleged that the technique can cause fracking fluids to leak into, and contaminate, underground freshwater aquifers.

The new research paper by Professor Paul Younger, from the University of Glasgow’s School of Engineering, suggests that even fracking on a far larger scale than proposed in Scotland would not affect water supplies.

The results, which appear to vindicate fracking companies, are based on a detailed study of the Selby coalfield in Yorkshire.

The research could prove a milestone in the debate about fracking in Scotland. Ineos, the energy giant, wants to extract underground gas…